The Birth House

The Birth House

Ami McKay, 2006

Dora Rare, the first female child born to the Rare family in five generations, grew up as a midwife's apprentice in a small village in Nova Scotia in the early 1900s. In a place and time where traditional methods were all they knew, Dora and the other women are faced with an interesting choice when a new male doctor comes to their village, promising new methods for fast, painless childbirth. Dora must now do what she can to protect the traditions passed down to her, while also figuring out what's best for the women she treats.

I'm a big fan of historical fiction, and this was a time period that I haven't read a lot about. I liked seeing what it was like for people living in a relatively isolated part of the world, where new developments such as electricity and modern medicine were only just beginning to creep in. I really liked Dora's character and found her to be a strong, independent female lead. I thought that she was faced with a lot of tough decisions but that she always did what she thought was right and what was right for the women she looked after. A very interesting look at what life was like for these women in the early 1900s. An enjoyable read.

Lost in a Good Book

Lost in a Good Book (Thursday Next #2)

Jasper Fforde, 2002

Thursday Next, employee for the LiteraTech office of Spec Ops, is usually occupied with finding forged copies of rare manuscripts. But when a copy of a long-lost Shakespearean play turns up and appears to be the real thing, life starts to get interesting. And this is in addition to all the trouble she caused when she went inside Jane Eyre and accidentally changed the ending. Now she's been put under the watchful eye of Great Expectation's Miss Havisham, who has been charged with teacher her the ins and outs of jumping into books. But can she use this information to release the man she imprisoned in Poe's The Raven? And can she do it before she's killed by coincidences and the world comes to an end?

I am really enjoying the Thursday Next series. While there are times when I find the humor a bit much, most of the time I find the jokes very funny (Jack Schitt and his half brother, Mr. Schitt-Hawse? How is that not funny?). But in addition to being a very amusing series of books, there is also a lot of action and drama to keep the plot moving along. In this second book, Thursday has to stop the world from ending, keep herself from being killed by an escalating series of coincidences, figure out how to jump in and out of books intentionally, and figure out what happened to her husband and how to get him back from the people who made him disappear. Lots of storyline in this one, but it never got to be too much. A really enjoyable read and I'm looking forward to picking up the next one to find out what happens. 

The Walking Dead series

The Walking Dead, Vol. 4: The Heart's Desire

Robert Kirkman, 2005

The Walking Dead, Vol. 5: The Best Defense

Robert Kirkman, 2006

The Walking Dead, Vol. 6: This Sorrowful Life

Robert Kirkman, 2006

The group of survivors from the zombie apocalypse is currently living in a prison that they have cleared of zombies. While investigating a helicopter crash nearby, Rick, Glenn, and Michonne are captured by inhabitants of the "town" of Woodbury and taken to a man calling himself "The Governor". 

I did a little run of Walking Dead comics this weekend. I've been watching the series on TV and had initially wanted to read the comics before watching the show, but never got around to it. I kind of wish that I had read the whole series before seeing the TV interpretation, but it's also kind of fun to know how things play out in the show ahead of time. It's not too much of a spoiler, though, because there is plenty that is different between show and comic. The biggest difference in these issues is the introduction of The Governor. I like the way they did it on the show and thought that it played out really well. The introduction it a lot different in the comics, however, and I thought it was kind of awesome. Although I can see why they went a different route on the show - especially in the way they showed Michonne's interactions with him. I'm really enjoying both the TV and comic series, though, and can't wait to see where they both go in the future.

Read-a-Thon Wrap-Up

Well, as you can see I only lasted about half the day before I had to go. But I had so much fun while I was playing. AND I finished two books - The Birth House and Lost in a Good Book, listened to a good chunk of Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter, and read The Walking Dead, Vol 4 and Vol. 5. So I'd say that it was a pretty productive day. Thanks to all the people who commented on my posts, and great job to everyone who participated. I'll definitely join in again next time the Read-a-Thon comes around. 

Read-a-Thon Post 4

Still reading! I had some chores to do around the house, so I picked up my audiobook of Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter that I've been listening to at the gym and got some of that read. It's quite good so far. 

I'm checking in to post for the Hour 7 mini-challenge: Best and Worst Covers.

As I just finished reading The Birth House, I'm going to use that as my example. Although some people might find it still pretty boring, I really like the cover for the paperback copy. It looks kind of like an old, faded photograph, which fits in with the time period of the story, I think.

The copy that I read, however, was a hardcover from the library. It's not that the cover is bad or ugly, but it's just so plain and tells you absolutely nothing about what kind of a book you're getting into. 

At least the book was good, even if the cover wasn't. :)

Read-a-Thon Post 3

An update: I have finished BOTH Lost in a Good Book and The Birth House! (Full review posts will be up later, probably tomorrow). Taking a short break for lunch and then on to something new!

Read-a-Thon Post 2

The task: Come up with a menu based on the book you are currently reading. 

Current read: Lost in a Good Book (Thursday Next #2) by Jasper Fforde. 

This book takes place in England in 1985. My drink, of course, would be tea. They drink tea a lot in this book. 

For an alcoholic beverage, I'm going with what I'm going to call "End of the World Iced Tea". It would be a Long Island Iced Tea, with Strawberry-flavored vodka used in place of regular vodka, and a strawberry garnish. 

The meal would be hot meat pasties, and dessert would be a strawberry pudding.

Why? You might ask. The tea and pasties are mentioned in the book. As for the strawberries... well, that's how the world is set to end. Everything turns into strawberry pudding. (You'll have to read the book to understand, but I swear it would all make sense to you then.)

Happy eating :)

Read-a-Thon Post 1

At present I'm doing my best to finish reading Lost in a Good Book (Thursday Next #2) by Jasper Fforde. It's quite enjoyable. 

While I read on, here are my answers to the Introductory Questionnaire:

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?

I'm reading from the surprisingly sunny (at least this morning) state of Massachusetts. 

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?

My plan today is to finish Lost in a Good Book and The Birth House, both of which I'm finding enjoyable so I'm looking forward to seeing how they end. 

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

I think I'll make up some "ants on a log" (celery with peanut butter and raisins) in a bit. Yumm.

4) Tell us a little something about yourself.

I grew up in Maine and lived for three years in Pittsburgh, PA before recently moving back to New England. Pittsburgh was nice, because I'm a Penguins and Steelers fan, which doesn't go over so well in the Boston area. ;)

5) If this is your first read-a-thon-, what are you most looking forward to?

I'm just hoping to use this time to get focused on reading. I love to read and always have at least two books going, but lately I've allowed myself to get distracted by other things and haven't spent as much time reading as I would like. While I'm not going to be able to read ALL day today (I do have plans later), I'm hoping that I will be able to use today to focus on getting back to the thing I love most - READING!

Dewey's Read-a-Thon

This year I have decided to try and attempt the Dewey's Read-a-Thon - a 24 hour, read-as-much-as-you-can, also-enjoy-mini-challenges kind of event. I know that I will not be able to read for the whole 24 hours - 1) I need to sleep. 2) I have things to do. - but I am going to try to spend as much of my free time as I can reading. I'm hoping to, at the very least, finish the two books I'm currently reading and possible get through one more. But I'll just play it by ear. I'm also hoping to do a few of the mini-challenges as they come up. Should be fun.

The Read-a-Thon is tomorrow, April 27, so I'll post short updates as I go throughout the day. Happy Reading!

The Dewey's Read-a-Thon Website

Gone Girl

Gone Girl

Gillian Flynn, 2012

Nick Dunne wakes up on his fifth anniversary to his wife, Amy, making crepes in the kitchen. After heading to work for a few hours, he comes home to find the house in disarray and his wife missing. As evidence begins to come to light that Amy may have been murdered, and Nick begins to look like the prime suspect, we see the story both from Nick's point of view and from diary entries of Amy's from before the day she disappeared. But was she murdered, abducted, or is there something else going on?

This was a really cool, really well-written mystery story. I had been meaning to read something by Gillian Flynn for a while, hearing good things about her since Sharp Objects, but just never got around to one of her books until now, but I'm really glad that I picked this one up. I never saw the twist coming, and I thought that both the build up and the aftermath were great fun to read about. I highly recommend this one to anyone who likes a good thriller.

The Likeness

The Likeness (Dublin Murder Squad #2)

Tana French, 2008

In the Woods, the first book in this series, featured detective Rob Ryan, with detective Cassie Maddox in the supporting role. Here in The Likeness, we pick up the story six months after those events, with Cassie Maddox in the lead. In this case, Cassie is called to a murder scene where a woman has been stabbed to death - a woman who looks almost exactly like Cassie herself. In order to find the killer, Cassie is asked to go undercover, posing as the girl who was killed. But does she really want to go back to the undercover life? And if she does, can she keep herself from getting drawn in too deep?

I'm really enjoying this series. While I think I liked In the Woods better, this was a great murder mystery, with intriguing characters and a lot of drama and suspense. My only complaint is that Cassie, at times, is an idiot. I realize her motivation for keeping some of the secrets that she did, but she's a cop - she should have known better. Still a great story, though. I also found that the characters and their situation reminded me a lot of The Secret History, another book I love. 

Great addition to the series, and I'm looking forward to reading the next one. 

Dead End in Norvelt

Dead End in Norvelt

Jack Gantos, 2011

Norvelt isn't exactly the most exciting town to grow up in - originally set up by Eleanor Roosevelt as a place where the poor could have what they needed and help each other to get by, Norvelt is now falling apart. As the original "Norvelters" are growing old and dying off, someone is selling their empty houses to another state and shipping them off, leaving Norvelt even more in disrepair. Jack, who was looking forward to playing baseball all summer, has been grounded "for life" and is forced to stay on his own property, except when he is forced to help out old Mrs. Volker write obituaries for the local paper. But after all the remaining original Norvelters begin dying off, one by one, the town begins to wonder - is it natural causes, a curse, or something much more sinister?

I first want to say that, as a winner of the Newbery Medal, this book left a lot to be desired. It just doesn't have the substance to stand up to most of the other books in this category. I can't say exactly what should have been different, but it just didn't quite live up to the honor.

That being said, it was still an enjoyable enough book. It dealt a lot with death, but in a way that I think young readers would have been comfortable with. It easily could have veered into creepy, with so many people dying and with obituary writing being such a major plot point. But I thought that it dealt with these issues very well for the most part.

My main complaint, I think, is that the serious issues - mainly the sudden deaths of so many old ladies in the town - in the end were dealt with in such a weird way. While it made sense, technically, it still seemed out of character for this person to do what he did.

Still, there was a good message behind the book - mainly to never forget your history, lest you be doomed to repeat it... but at the same time, you shouldn't let history be your life either. Live your life, roll with the changes, but learn from your mistakes. Not a bad moral, especially for children. A good read, very amusing at times and pretty fun, just not necessarily Newbery material, in my opinion.